Former IRS agent sentenced in snooping case

Earlier this year, Christopher Supple, 40, of Bridgeport, CN, an Internal Revenue Service officer, was accused of using a computer in 2002 to access tax information regarding a personal acquaintance. Supple pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford, CN to one count of unauthorized access to a government computer. In his plea, Supple acknowledged that he accessed the information deliberately and without authorization.

Supple faced a potential one-year prison term and a fine of up to $100,000.

This week, Supple received sentencing. He was placed on probation for a year, fined $1,000, and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Supple is no longer employed by the IRS.

Supple's indiscretion was discovered during an internal investigation conducted by the U.S. Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration at the IRS in 2005. Federal law makes it a criminal offices for IRS employees to access taxpayer information without a legitimate business purpose.